A LAST-GASP goal from Slovakia cruelly robbed Stark's young side of any hope of qualifying from their group ahead of next year's Euro Championships.

THE arithmetic eventually conspired to work against Scotland but the numbers are beginning to add up for Billy Stark
’s babes.

The chances of his Under-21s
making it through to the Euro Championships in 2015 ended in the Slovac town of Senec last night when they conceded a last-gasp leveller to Slovakia.

Even with a victory, the chances of going to the finals up the road in the Czech Republic as one of the best placed runners-up would have been virtually nil.

But Stark can still look to a positive future after fielding a starting 11 with seven players eligible for the qualifying rounds of the tournament in 2017.

Every Slovak starter, on the other hand, bows out after this event but the young Scots still matched them until the last moments of the game when Ondrej Duda fired a shot past Spurs keeper Jordan Archer.

It was a fair result but tough on the travelling Scots who had defended with discipline and gone ahead through winger Ryan Fraser of Bournemouth in the second half.

SNS/Sammy Turner

Ryan Fraser rounds keeper Dobrivoj Rusov to open the scoring for Scotland

Boss Stark said: “It was heart-breaking. The performance the players put in deserved a victory. They got back the determination and resilience to defend properly against a good side with real presence.

“We countered intelligently and created good chances. We had a lot of good individual performances and collectively they showed they’re a team.

“Looking at the campaign overall, you’re searching for a wee bit of luck at the right time and we never found it.”

The physical difference between the sides was there for all to see, with the host nation boasting height and weight advantages in every area.

They almost made their brawn count in the opening minutes when Legia Warsaw midfielder Duda barged into the box but Aberdeen defender Clark Robertson did enough to put him off and he shot over.

With former Celtic boss Jo Venglos watching, the Scotland defence was resolute as Celtic starlet Stuart Findlay and Hearts kid Jordan McGhee minimised the times Archer was called into action.

However, the Scots suffered a blow midway through the first half when Robertson limped off to be replaced by Hamilton debutant Stephen Hendrie.

The Slovaks upped the tempo and Duda cut in from the left to hit a right-foot shot that forced a fine save from Archer.

After Ukrainian ref Anatoli Zhanchenko had limped off to be replaced by fourth official Sergei Lysenchuk, full-back Branislav Ninaj stole in at the back post to connect with a corner from Patrik Hrosovsky but Archer dived smartly to his right to save the header.

As half-time approached, Lewis Macleod burst forward and exchanged passes with Ryan Gauld
before forcing a save from Dobrivoj Rusov.

Rusov dived low to his right just after the interval to save McGhee’s glancing header from a Hendrie cross.

At the other end, Ivan Schranz should have done better than volley wide from six yards after being picked out in the box by Adam Zrelak.

The Scotland defence was well organised and forced the home side into shots from outside the area that barely troubled Archer.

They were also dangerous on the counter and proved it midway through the half.

The goal owed so much to the vision of Macleod, who looked up and raked a 60-yard diagonal pass on to the toes of Fraser, who composed himself before rounding the keeper and sliding the ball home.

Unsurprisingly, the Slovaks laid siege to the Scots goal in the last 15 minutes.

Archer made a string of super stops but was powerless in injury time when Duda cut in from the left and fired a shot low into the corner.